QR U? (MA RCA - final project)
In only a few years the combination of the Internet’s social networks and digital cameras on mobile phones have changed the way we express our identities. Individual expression has been made significantly easier and the route to fame more accessible. It has also turned all of us into our own "paparazzis".
Reading through some articles and texts about the effect of technology on our society I found the word "tribal" to be a reoccuring term used to describe it.
To use a very analogue culture as a reference to describe the effect of high tech on our society I find very interesting and this led me to how beads have been used as a communication tool and to express individual identity in African culture and how we also use "beads" (pixels) in the digital culture as a communcation tool and to express our identities online.
QR U? explores the juxtaposition of self promotion and personal privacy in this new environment. Could traditional African beadcraft be used in it's original function of communicating identity but used with modern technology in contemporary context?